masterclass

BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders is sceptical about the value of financial forecasts. "What goes up will come down, she said," reminding her audience that it was the very clever Sir Isaac Newton that lost a fortune trying to call the top of the South Sea Bubble.

John McAndrew of Sky News will speak in the main undergraduate newsroom at 1300 today, Wednesday 7 March. John is a BAFTA winner and a rising star of Sky News. He is a former editor of the BBC Poltics show. In 2010 he edited Sky's Leaders' Debate between David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg. Please come and hear him and ask him questions. Good turnouts at these sessions ensure that we continue to get the best guests. You know it makes complete sense.   

Tim Jotischky, Deputy Editor of the Sunday Telegraph, will be delivering a Masterclass at 1.00 on Tuesday 7 February in the undergraduate newsroom.

Chris Moncrieff, veteran former political editor of the Press Association, enthralled students in the Centre today with tales from his fifty years as a frontline political reporter. He recalled how he broke the news of Margaret Thatcher's resignation, ended the Gulf War five minutes early because his clock was fast and watched Denis Thatcher feed a bun to the wrong end of an elephant. He advised aspiring journalists always to carry a passport, to dress smartly and to use shorthand. He said his only regret was that his parents wanted him to be a solicitor, so he spent a few months working for a law firm in London before he got his first job as a reporter. That was in 1949. He has met every post war British Prime Minister, including Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill. 

All students are invited to attend a Masterclass by Stephen Mitchell, Deputy Director of BBC News and Head of Programmes on Wednesday, 3 November at 13.00 in the big newsroom.

 Allan Little, the BBC's multiple award winning Special Correspondent, will  now make his second visit to the Centre for Journalism on Monday 8 March. Allan will meet and talk to students in an informal newsroom session at 12 noon. He has recently returned from Afghanistan, where he broadcast live reports during a Taliban attack in central Kabul.

Ann Mroz, editor of Times Higher Education, the weekly newspaper for universities and all who work in them, will visit the Centre tomorrow, Friday. In addition to being the editor of a highly successful and relevant title, Ann is a fascinating and entertaining journalist. Please come, listen, ask questions and take advantage of her experience. 

Newsnight's political editor Michael Crick has admitted that political journalists failed the British public by not being more aware of MPs' expenses before the scandal broke. Giving a masterclass to Centre for Journalism staff and students, Crick said he was concerned that the case might be symptomatic of failings in other areas of journalism too. "In the pursuit of personality-driven journalism perhaps we are overlooking some of the bigger stories," he said. "I think it is a failing of journalists that the collapse of the economy came as such a surprise to us. In the same way I think it's a failing of political journalists that all this expenses stuff has come as such a surprise to so many people, including us."

This is the first of a series of masterclass sessions with senior journalists visiting the Centre for Journalism, produced as an interactive Flash presentation. BBC World Affairs correspondent Allan Little talks to staff and students about his career reporting from some of the world's most difficult places.

This is an embeddable file. Click the 'share' button on the presentation's main menu to embed it into your own web site or personal blog. Note: Will work best with the most up-to-date version of the free Quicktime player, available here

On Friday afternoon the Centre for Journalism welcomed Sarah Ivens, editor of OK! Magazine in the US, to the newsroom. With her she brought experience of working in multiple publications across this country and abroad, and an obvious passion for journalism that was evident throughout the Q&A session.